Oh, happy me!

I’ll be 41 years old tomorrow – and I am soooooo grateful for my life and for the years I’ve had the privilege of living.

Here’s what I’m happy about today:

The house has been packed! The stuff has been purged! After months of slow-purging… we are finally OUT of our big house! It has been rented out to geeks – and we’ve been happily ensconced in our tiny cottage for the past couple of days.

Tomorrow – as an extra-special birthday treat, I’m hosting a Mad Hatster’s Coffee Cabaret at Citizen Cafe (just down the road from our house). There will be good food… friends… storytelling… art… music… and coffee. I can’t wait!

On Saturday, we’re moving in with our dear friends, Rogan & Tracey. We’ll be staying at their home for 5 sleeps until we leave.

On Saturday evening, we’ll be in Benoni for a big braai and musical jam with family & friends.

On Sunday morning – we’ll be at Imagine… and there’s going to be champagne to toast us “off”. (Imagine is our Sunday morning debate & conversational group).

Our plane tickets are booked and paid for. Our visas & passports are all ready. Our Disney World hotel & park tickets are booked and paid for. The kids are beside themselves with excitement. There’s great friends (and a car!) waiting for us in Washington DC! We are super-excited to visit our American friends and embark on our 2-month-US Road-trip – and we leave on the 14th November – a WEEK from today!

We’re looking forward to being back in Joburg on the 16th January for the premiere of Faan se Trein. I really think the film is going to do really well. Nick has already won the Silwerskermfees “Best Editor” award for the film – and it may be up for more kudos in next years’ SAFTA’s too!

Also – when we get back to Joburg, we’ll be taking possession of a new car. Remember how I mentioned that our adventure-loving family has outgrown the little Renault Modus? I wrote a post about it here… anyway – so – we’re getting a new car. A 4×4 with a special, light-on-fuel diesel engine – to put us in good stead for the next phase of our adventures.

Nick has some quality films lined up for him next year. This makes me very happy – he has always wanted to ONLY work on films (instead of always having to supplement his income with whatever work is offered to him)… he is finally at a point where he’s in a lot of demand for his special skills. Filmmaking is Nick’s happy place – and when he’s happy, I’M happy!

After attending the Joburg premiere – we’re going to head down to Cape Town and rent a little furnished house by the beach for a month or two (while Nick does some work that only requires the laptop and the internet). After that (depending on film stuff)… we could spend time in Karoo, Hoedspruit or St. Francis Bay… (we shall see…)

And… later next year… it looks like we’ll be heading to Germany for a couple of months! Nick will be editing a South African film (co-produced & financed by a German production house)… so… we’re already planning the European Road Trip… Eeeeeeeee!!!

And – after 41 years – I have finally found my happy-place with regard to my “work”… and I have FINALLY dropped all the hundreds of silly expectations (that I had placed upon my own life)… and have allowed myself the freedom to just be… (warts and all)… “ME”. I cannot begin to tell you how liberating this has been.